I realize nothing is all that easy on these cars...But this is and has held up the past 300 or so miles. Perhaps it can be considered at the very least a temporary fix for some. So here is the story.

Over the past week I had been smelling antifreeze. Didnt see anything in the engine compartment and the level looked full so I figured Id wait this one out. While at the shop getting my estimate for a new exhaust (yes!) the owner said "hey, there is some antifreeze around the coolant tank." It was just a little bit that had collected around the tanks lip. So I was like hmm perhaps one of the smaller hoses that go into it are loose. WELL...I barely even touch the one and it just breaks off in my hand sending antifreeze everywhere from out of the tank. Upon closer examination it appears that the nipple was partially disintergarted within the hose. The one hose was actually DRY and totally glogged by this disintergrated nipple.

ANYWAY...This is what I did. I cut the nipple portion flush and even. With my tap set I gradually tapped the opening increasing the size gradually untill using the 1/8"mnpt(believe it would be considered a 1/8" 27) I then went to my local autoshop and picked up a brass 1/8"mnpt-5/16" brass hose fitting. I wrapped the hose with teflon tape and inserted it carefully so it would not crossthread. The photo is the before and after. Not sure if this has happenned to anyone else....But it may save someone in a bind:O)

 

I was about to do the same thing today on mine and guess what, grab the fitting and left it at the counter while looking at other stuff and when checkout totally forgot about the fitting until I got home. So have to go back tomorrow to buy the fitting and thanks for reminding about the tap set.

 

Make sure to get the 1/8 fitting. It has a fine thread pitch and is about the smallest I could find for 5/16" hose. Also I didnt drill as I didnt want to heat the plastic or remoove to much material. Gradually increasing tap size did the trick. Be patient. Hope it works out well for you. Ill be buying a tank eventually just in case....

 

You'll probably find that thing lasts for the next 200,000 miles !! I wouldn't rush to buy a new tank yet.

 

Well done Slowpoke-I can assure you this has happened to LOTS of people.


It is now 5 years since I bought my Jag and I have been reading this and the UK

forum in that time.

It's amazing how many faults have been tracked down and repaired by the

owners themselves without using expensive dealers who often are grossly

incompetant or only exist to scam their customers.

Another example is the OBD interface. Five years ago I was looking at an IDS

interface (Rotunda) for 800 GBP-now you can buy a mongoose for about $60.

OK it doesn't work half the time but even that has been sorted!

Great forum.

 

I just repaired my saggy headliner without removal as well....But this seemed as though it could help someone out in a bind. I have a few things going on Ill probably post up in the future. Mostly performance mods with dyno reults..Maybe Ill hold off on that tank. Im sure its pricey

 

Oh now to repair the other nipple! ! Other repair holding up well thus far!

 

I was planning to buy a new tank tomorrow. Looks like I'll do this instead.

 

BTW I repaired mine today by plastic welding it back on

The trick is superglue the parts then cover in baking soda
The baking soda causes a reaction in the superglue welding them together

Don't worry if you have a leak after you do it as you can just add more glue and soda

Cheers
34by151

 

The rest of the tube was too mutilated for me to try that. I shaved down the little stabilizers around the tube well enough to get the hose on and now it's secure, but I'm now debating if I should replace the tank for piece of mind. It's getting a complete coolant flush today either way.

 

I replaced the tank on my 04 a long time ago. Coolant leaks have been the biggest problem for this car. It's surprising to me that they use so many cheap, poor quality plastic parts on a fairly expensive car. I guess most of the people who buy this kind of car don't notice what's hidden.

 

I would be concerned that this repair may let loose after a long trip in the summertime heat when the plastic becomes softer. Same for any adhesive. I have worked in the plastics industry for decades and simply would not be comfortable with any repair that did not have metal holding the metal nipple from the inside of the tank. And there really is little space to design one for this part.
The tank in my 2004 XJR was replaced when my car had around 50K miles on the clock around 4 years back. If it fails again, I would replace the tank again.
I guess when I was younger I would enjoy the challenge to try repairs on the tank, now I just want to enjoy my Jag and not worry about failures.
RyeJag

 

I think everyone who owns an X350 has probably had this problem. Yet another poorly designed, poor quality component that seems to be all over this model. When the nipple broke off on my car I drilled it out slightly and put epoxied a nipple in but even epoxy doesn't seem to adhere to the plastic that the tank is made of. It lasted a while but I replaced the tank and so far, no problem with the new tank. A bigger problem for me was when the plastic thermostat housing cracked and started leaking.

 

My coolant nipple repair is still holding strong...Just sayin:O)

 

Same here

Cheers
34by151

 

Slowpoke,
Did you use any adhesive? Locktite or superglue?
I'm going to fix this tonight. I found the fitting at Advance Auto in one if those small carousel displays for $3.29. Yellow package 1/8" MNPT x 5/16" barb hose.

Thanks

 

Thanks for the write up. I broke mine after checking for coolant leaks the other day. How ironic, huh?

I ordered a pack of 5 stainless fittings off of Amazon, but didn’t realize they’d take a month to get here from China.



So I hopped down to the auto parts store and picked up a brass fitting. I also purchased a Gearwrench tap and die set.



I slowly drilled it out with increasingly bigger spiral bits (using a battery powered drill) until I got up to a 9/32” bit. I was then able to use a couple of taps and finished with the 1/8” 27 tap. I teflon taped the fitting and also applied a small amount of gasket sealer as an added extra. I started to thread the fitting in by hand and then took a small three sided file, snugged it up inside the fitting and screwed it in the rest of the way, because getting a small wrench in the fitting was to tedious. To get the rest of the broken plastic nipple out of the small hose, I screwed in a screw and pulled it out. When I threaded it in I was actually impressed with how well it grabbed on and held, considering how little plastic is left after drilling it out. It is relatively stout now. I did a similar fix years ago on a different vehicle but it didn’t hold as well as this, but even that one lasted a long time. I expect this one to last a while.

 

Excellent solution. This will probably outlast the car.

 

My tank has been wrapped in a rag for a few months, which catches most of the small amount of coolant that leaks from this tank .

 

I would get that fixed ASAP. If it breaks loose there could be a catastrophic loss of fluid. It always happens at the worst time.